Rotary International District 3810 Governor, Joaquin “Jack” Rodriguez Sr., is crying foul over his dismissal from his position by Rotary International (RI) president Stephanie Urchick last 12 April 2025 stating that he was merely exercising his powers as duly elected leader of said district.

In his letter to Rotary presidents and fellow Rotarians, Rodriguez said his dismissal came when he initiated an investigation into allegations that one of the District Governor Nominees was involved in the 50-plus counts of malversation of funds cases.

He said Rotary elections are a divisive exercise in which some of the candidates are involved in personal attacks, just like what happened last year, causing the process to be canceled by the board.

“Since there were questions on the qualifications of one candidate, I asked Rotary International president Stephanie whether I could convene an Investigation Committee (IC) to look into the matter, and she gave me the nod to go on with the investigation,” Rodriguez said.

Disqualification

Subsequently, the probe resulted in the IC’s recommending the disqualification of the candidate.

“Considerations were based particularly on the result of the external auditor’s report for financial malversations committed by that candidate with recommendations of a criminal act of qualified theft and numerous offenses that violate particularly Rotary’s core values of INTEGRITY, high moral character, honesty, the 4-way test, RI By-Laws and the Code of Policies,” he said.

Rodriguez maintained that his mandate as District Governor is to make sure that the best-qualified candidate with integrity and adherence to all the values of a good Rotarian must prevail.

Following his mandate as governor

“Hence, I followed the IC’s recommendation of disqualifying the candidate. I banked on President Stephanie’s email to me that I could go on with the investigation since it is still local. And since it is local, as the highest official of RI in the District, I just followed my mandate as Gov. Now, I am being removed for my actions of protecting the integrity of the district,” Rodriguez lamented.

He said he appealed the decision of the RI president, which, according to Rodriguez, was not even a Board’s Decision but just in consultation with RI staff, but to date, he has not received any answer.

“I leave it up to you, my dear presidents and Rotarians of D3810. If this is what is in store for me after working very hard with my MIPs and officers and all of you who were there to support me, then I can proudly say that I was removed as governor of D3810 because I stood my ground as a true Rotarian who valued integrity up to the last days of my life,” Rodriguez, who still has two months as governor, said in his letter to his fellow Rotarians.

No regrets

Despite the apparent politics happening in the Rotary, he said he has no regrets about running RD 3810 and being a Rotarian, as the platform has made him help the needy and less fortunate Filipinos.

“The good memories of this RY (Rotary Year) would remain as I have been with every one of you, serving you fully and totally as your servant governor,” Rodriguez said.